TMCP #640: Ask Rick — Green Cars, Tariffs on Taiwan, Chinese EV Rumors, and the Best Trucks to Buy Now
The MuscleCar Place
Robert Kibbe
4.5 • 702 Ratings
🗓️ 6 March 2026
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This month on Ask Rick, Rick Schmidt from National Parts Depot joins us for a St. Patrick’s Day edition covering everything from green cars and Guinness to real-world business questions. We discuss whether presidential addresses truly move the needle for business decisions, what the current tariff situation looks like on Taiwanese restoration sheetmetal, and how NPD is handling pricing in real time. We also dive into the growing conversation around Chinese electric vehicles entering the U.S. market — and whether joint ventures with American automakers make that inevitable.
Plus, Rick tackles a thoughtful listener question about selling a company to employees with no family successor, and we close with a truck-heavy investment showdown: custom builds under $75K and which ones make the smartest five-year bet. Insightful, practical, and always honest — it’s classic Ask Rick from start to finish.
The post TMCP #640: Ask Rick — Green Cars, Tariffs on Taiwan, Chinese EV Rumors, and the Best Trucks to Buy Now first appeared on The Muscle Car Place.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Muscle Car Place online podcast episode number 640. This week, Rick is here and we're going to cover a lot of ground, |
| 0:07.8 | none of which is really connected. Like, are there really bad colors on cars? Is that a thing? And are |
| 0:15.0 | Chinese cars sold in the U.S. inevitable? And here's a fun one. Which CEO of one of the big car makers is the biggest |
| 0:23.1 | car geek? Rick thinks it's Jim Farley from Ford. And of the leaders of the big three, he's arguably |
| 0:28.5 | by a landslide, the biggest car guy of them all. Or gal. Seems obvious. He's in it. Yeah, he's showing |
| 0:35.4 | cars at Pebble Beach, and he's racing cars at Sebring. |
| 0:39.4 | And then one more for you. How do you sell your business like a body shop or a restoration |
| 0:43.3 | shop or really anything when you don't have a family member in the wings or more specifically |
| 0:48.4 | you want to see it thrive on without you? Well, maybe it could be to your employees. |
| 0:53.5 | If you sell your company to your |
| 0:54.8 | employees, they are going to be staring down a mountain of debt to them relative to them. |
| 1:01.0 | Don't make anybody stare down a mountain of debt unless you're handing them a business that |
| 1:04.6 | has growth potential, 10, 20 years out, minimum. |
| 1:12.2 | This is the Muscle Car Place Online Podcast, |
| 1:16.3 | brought you by National Parks Depot. |
| 1:19.0 | This is the weekly show dedicated to people worldwide |
| 1:22.6 | who love American muscle cars. |
| 1:25.3 | If you're buying, selling, restoring, even racing them, this is the place for you. |
| 1:31.6 | Now, here's your host, Rob Kibby. Yes, indeed. I am Rob Kibby, and welcome to the Muscle Car Place podcast. |
| 1:39.2 | Well, first, happy St. Patty's Day, everybody. I like to start the month off with whatever the holiday |
| 1:44.5 | is, and I realize that as you get this, St. Patty's Day isn't for maybe another couple weeks. |
| 1:49.5 | But, you know what? Is it too early to have a green beer? |
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